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Topic: Shakey's sauce recipe?? (Read 153902 times)

I was living in Tokyo last year, and there were Shakey's Pizzas all over the place. It's quite common in Japan it seems. I don't know how it compares though.

There are a lot of odd US chains that moved to Japan and became popular, and died off back in the US. Like the Lawson convenience store (EVERYWHERE in Japan), Mr. Donut (used to be a US company, now only in Japan), etc.

Here's a snippet of what they say:"Shakey's USA brand sees record sales, franchise expansion2008 marks a milestone year for Shakey's USA. The veteran 54-year old chain began a system-wide revitalization effort last year marking an end to economic obstacles in recent years. Newly appointed CEO Joe Remsa helms this new era of growth as all corporate locations undergo complete remodels, four new area development agreements have been signed and the chain expands to the south with the first new Shakey's restaurant east of California in nearly 40 years."

Okay, here’s my run at Shakey’s from the 70’s. I didn’t work there, but I’ve never forgotten what the greatest pizza in the world tasted like and I’ve been chasing it ever since. I started with the Chef Boyardee kits when I was a kid (I’m 41 now) and been working toward recreating Shakey’s ever since. This recipe is the product of recommended experimentation, question-asking, Internet and other research, and just plain guessing over the course of about 30 years or so.[snip]This is for a regular oven and makes two pounds or two 16” pizzas. I use a bread machine to mix the dough and I load it in the above order. I put the sugar and salt in opposite corners of the bread can and I make a little impression in the flour mound to pour the yeast. I set the machine to the dough setting and let it run its course. After that, I remove the dough, separate it into two equal portions, and put each ball in its own mixing bowl. I pre-coat the bowls with a light spray of Pam olive oil, then cover each one with plastic cling wrap, and let them set on the counter at room temperature for at least 24 hours, but not more than 36 hours. In fact, if I don’t use it within a few hours after the 24 hour mark, I’ll go ahead and store it in the refrigerator.

I am having difficulty picturing Shakey's using wine in their sauce for the very simple reason that it would have had to have been held under lock-and-key given the number of underage teen-agers that typically work at a Shakey's.

Would it be possible that it was wine vinegar, perhaps to temper the sweetness of the sauce?

This is something I've been meaning to bring up for a while. I remember watching somebody on tv make a marinara sauce, and they stated very confidently that until you add alcohol to a tomato sauce that you would never get all the flavors from the tomatoes. The explanation was chemical in nature I believe. Can anyone shed some light on this? thanks -marc

Many times garlic and onion are sauteed to tenderize & smooth the flavor, the pan is then deglazed with a cooking wine to loosen it from the pan before adding the tomatoes. Sbarros does this with their sauce.

I have been to shakey's in Janesville, WI & had happy joes for dinner tonight. Both are similar. I would love to have their sauce & dough recipe. I am guessing their dough is rolled in cornmeal & then thrown into a very oily pan from what I can tell.

Since happy joes are more common now then Shakey's I agree you would probably have a better chance of finding out Happy Joes sauce recipe.

I am having difficulty picturing Shakey's using wine in their sauce for the very simple reason that it would have had to have been held under lock-and-key given the number of underage teen-agers that typically work at a Shakey's.

Would it be possible that it was wine vinegar, perhaps to temper the sweetness of the sauce?

-ME

I worked at a Shakey's in Maryland around 1985. There were 2 in the Washington DC area.

I remember using tomato Sauce and paste, oregano, some kind of seasoning in a white packet and Sugar. But we never used wine in the sauce.

Few things from childhood bring back fonder memories than the very notion of Shakey's Pizza. It's one thing as a child to go to McDonald's and another to know you're going to Shakey's for dinner. The only thing that even comes close is Lums which went out of business more than a decade ago, but doesn't register on the richter quite the way Shakey's did. My problem is that I can't remember what it tasted like. I KNOW it was good, but Shakey's was long before Pizza Hut went national, long before Dominoes, Papa John's and all the others. We had a few Pizzerias near us in the early 70's, but NONE compared to shakeys. Unique is the word.

It's a shame what happened to the chain, but I sure do hope they come back. I'd love to buy a franchise and put a few in my area. Talk about a memory!

I know what you are saying. I think the last Shakey's pizza I had was in West Allis, WI in the late 1970's. There were a few Shakey's restaurants still around in the Kansas City area when my family arrived in 1978, including one not far from our house, but they all closed by around 1980-1981. The couple of times my dad ordered a pizza from that Shakey's, I distinctly remember it being crap.

When I stumbled onto this site, I was hoping to find a receipe for the original Shakey's receipe from the early 60s. I was also surprised that many others are on the same quest. I remember Shakeys opened in Albany, OR in about 1960 and was the 2nd one in OR, the 1st being in Portland. The franchise was owned by Jim&Isabel Covalt and they had about 3 in the area. I still have a menu from the 60s and "7 kinds of imported cheeses" was mentioned. Also, the largest most expensive combo could be had for about $5. It seems like the receipe changed sometime in the late 60s (probably for economic reasons) and lacked the original zing. I also remember dime beer night, which didn't last too long. At some point in the 70s, Isabel Covalt did not renew the Shakeys franchise and started the "Izzys" chain, which started out being similar to Shakeys, serving pizza, chicken, and salad. Eventually, so many things were added to the menu that they have lost their identity and niche (my opinion). Anyway, I am stilll on the trail of the original receipe. It seems like the company would consider re-introducing it or share it with the public.

If the menu can be believed, 7 kinds of cheese was used. I think that may have changed later because of cost. I was reading a blog about the founder of Shakeys, Sherwood Johnson and it was mentioned that cayenne pepper was used in the crust. I wonder if they meant sauce. It would account for the spicyness of the original receipe and the parched feeling that lasted overnight.

As far as Tomato Sauces and Pastes... all pizza chains spec viscosity, sweetness, salt and so on. There is also the consideration of fresh pack (Stanislaus / 6 in 1) vs reconstituted.

One probably cannot find the exact tomato base in a grocery store or distributor. But one can get the original spice recipe through the exorcise that is being done on this page (finding employees that worked there when they added spices... not proprietary spice mixes)

Once the spices are captured, one can experiment with mixtures of sauce and pastes to get the right tomato base....

For those of you who are close to Portland, OR. you can go to Bob's Rocket Pizza on NE 42nd. Bob ran the Shakeys for 20 years and has identical pizza made with exactly the same method. He sold out but he still makes the dough and sauce for the new owners and you can find him there 5 days a week.

I too can remember Shakey's growing up in Littleton, CO. As I'm reading this topic, my mouth salivating, I distinctly remember Shakey's being spicy. So, the cayenne pepper idea seems to make sense to me and it also sounds right that it's in the crust. Anybody else remember this? Any ideas as to how much. I'll try it soon and report back.

My mom had a friend that used to play banjo at a Shakey's. Remember you could get that Styrofoam Shakey's hat that stayed on your head with rubber bands?

I too worked at Shakey's. The Richfield, Minnesota location from '82-85. Sounds like things changed through the years. However, while I worked there I did every possible job you could. So from my memory here are some things most of you will find completely useless in your quest to duplicate the pizza and are apparently only accurate to my employment.

Dough: Flour, Water, Yeast (cake style dissolved in the water), Shortening. Thats it no seasoning, made in large Hobart mixer with dough hook. Mixed about 10 minutes allowed to rise once, punched down, refrigerated and used the next day.

Cheese: The menu did claim seven cheeses, I only ever saw 4: Mozzarella, Cheddar, Provalone, and Parmesean. The first three shredded on site with shredder attachment for Hobart mixer. Parmesan came in large bags in boxes. The Cheddar & provalone were combined and as stated by others called C&P.

Rolling the dough: done every day, unused "skins" tossed at end of day. Large rolling machine used to turn 1/3 of a batch into a 2 foot wide by about 10 foot long thin strip of dough, docked (large studded roller over entire surface to poke holes) then cut with template and knife to small, med, or large size. stacked skins about 2-3 inches high with wax paper between each "skin".

The Build: spread a handfull of cornmeal on build board, place skin on board, remove wax paper, use wide BBQ style brush to paint sauce on skin covering entirely, so much so that you paint past edges onto the board about 1/16" thick on skin. Weigh proper amount of Mozzarella and spread on to within 1/2" of edge of crust, sprinkle small handful of C&P over Mozzarella, cover pizza with chosen ingredients (which could include: pepperoni, sausage, spiced beef, polish sausage, salami, canadian bacon, green olives, black olives, onion, green pepper, mushrooms, pineapple, anchovies, and extra cheese), shake parmesean cheese liberally over entire pizza, use inverted square end spatula to scrape/squeegee all spilled ingredients (especially sauce) off of board. Shake board lightly to make sure pizza will slide off board (this is the whole reason for the cornmeal, think edible ball bearings). Slide onto stone oven surface. Cook till done. (if you ever made a pizza you know when its done).Enjoy.

Side note about previous posts. There was no wine in the sauce, but as I was underage at the time and left to close the store about once a week, I can attest to the fact that since we served beer and wine at our location, I was trusted to behave. And of course I did, LOL, we only tested the beer occasionally to make sure it was still safe for the customers.

Sadly, all Shakey's in the Minneapolis area were closed, I think by around 1990.